Nissan Teams Up With NASA to Make An Electric Lunar Vehicle
Nissan is joining hands with Teledyne Brown Engineering and Sierra Space to create a Lunar Terrain Vehicle for NASA.
Written by Serena Aburahma
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
Nissan
may be joining the world of space engineering after collaborating with NASA and Teledyne Brown Engineering, among others, to create a crewed electric lunar vehicle similar to that of GM. What are the features of the lunar vehicle? What part will Nissan play in the project?
Jerry
has information about this project and similar ones Nissan has done in the past.How Nissan fits the bill in NASA's plan
According to
Nissan Corporation
, the company has a wealth of information on automotive design, autonomous driving, and innovation that will be key to the success of the project. It has also created intelligent vehicle systems in the past, with a measure of success, which will seamlessly integrate with the intelligent vehicle systems required for crewed lunar vehicles for NASA.
A while back, Nissan joined hands with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to create a prototype for an electric lunar rover. The prototype comes with all-wheel-drive technology that Nissan plans to use in its upcoming 2023 Nissan Ariya.
The JAXA collaboration project resulted in an e-4ORCE lunar vehicle ready to launch. Therefore, the company already has some of the research and technology needed to have a working electric lunar model. This could be one of the reasons why NASA settled on the automaker for the project.
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The roles of Nissan partners in the rover project
The lead partner in the project, Teledyne Brown Engineering, is expected to provide engineering, program management, and integration of various sensors into the project.
It has created Launch Vehicle Stage Adapters for the NASA Artemis Vehicle, which will be launched later in the year. The company also built a Multi-User Sensor for Earth Sensing platform for the International Space Station, among other projects.
Electrek
explains that Sierra Space has worked with NASA in the past, supplying it with Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) habitats that would be used to support astronauts and a science laboratory in space. It already has a space vehicle called Space Chaser that is meant to offer cargo supply and return missions to the International Space Station.These three companies have what it takes to create a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) for astronauts soon.
MORE: Canoo Is Building Cars for Astronauts
Has NASA worked with automakers in the past?
As
Motor Trend
explains, in the past, the space agency has worked with various automakers to create lunar vehicle concepts based on their experience and technologies at hand. Multiple models that we already have on earth could fit the bill with a few modifications. These models include the GMC Hummer EV, the
Tesla Cybertruck
, and Toyota's Lexus.Toyota has also worked with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to create a hydrogen fuel-cell-powered rover, a six-wheel-drive vehicle. With a crewed mission expected sometime in 2024, it is only a matter of time before we see what interesting rovers will be available for astronauts.
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